Success Stories
Through our lending and real estate services work, IFF has created high quality, welcoming space that better serves the needs of our
customers and supports the community. The loans IFF provides helps nonprofits acquire, build and renovate their own facilities, while
increasing net assets and financial stability.
Every month, we feature customer success stories in our eNewsletters or blog and have highlighted a few of the agencies we've worked
with below:
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Video: There's Something About a Space In 2003, IFF and the Grand Victoria Foundation entered into a partnership called Building Blocks. One component of the initiative is early care and education classroom renovations. This video demonstrates the impact of this initiative. File format: Flash File size: 17MB File length: 4m 25s [Watch video] This video requires the Flash plugin. If needed, follow the instructions to install Flash on your computer. |
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Access Living IFF was hired to assess the feasibility of creating a permanent headquarters for the agency’s staff and clients, and later to manage site selection and construction of a new facility. Read more... |
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Angelic Organics Learning Center, Caledonia, Illinois IFF provided a $40,000 loan to finish construction on an organic farm and education center. Angelic Organics is a community supported agriculture organization that provides agro-ecology education workshops, farmer training, programs for inner city youth, a harvest share program, and other produce sales to the public. |
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Asian Human Services In 2002 AHS secured a 15-year, $450,000 IFF loan that, along with a bank loan, enabled it to acquire and renovate the building that houses Passages, an elementary charter school. The purchase allowed AHS, as a nonprofit, to escape property taxes embedded in the lease payments, and also to protect against future rent increases, while securing its own dedicated school facility. Read more... |
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Beyond Housing’s Save-A-Lot Grocery Store, Pagedale, Missouri Residents of Pagedale, just west of St. Louis, had no access to affordable grocery stores—the few convenience stores nearby are expensive and do not carry produce, meat, or poultry. In 2009, IFF provided a $1,245,000 loan to Beyond Housing, a NeighborWorks organization, to build a grocery store. IFF’s loan filled a financing gap for this New Market Tax Credits transaction led by US Bank. Save-A-Lot leases the building from Beyond Housing and provides residents with savings of up to 40 percent compared to conventional grocery chains. For more information on this project, please click here. "IFF was instrumental in making this project happen. Financing grocery stores in low and moderate income communities is a daunting task but IFF’s flexibility, creativity, and knowledge of community development allowed this dream to become a reality." —Chris Krehmeyer, Executive Director, Beyond Housing, Inc. |
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Black Ensemble Theater Black Ensemble Theater hired IFF to lead the development team of their new 50,000 square foot cultural center in Chicago's Uptown neighborhood, giving them space to increase the scope of their productions and expand their educational outreach programs. Read more... |
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Brookside Day School, Kansas City, Missouri IFF worked with charter school Brookside Day School to expand its space to accommodate more students by providing planning and site selection services, as well as a $1 million subordinate loan. The new space helps to create a positive environment for students that is conducive to learning. Read more... |
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Carole Robertson Center for Learning The 21,000-square-foot, 12-classroom Little Village Family Resource Center was developed to meet the acute need for child care in Chicago’s Little Village community. Read more... |
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Centers for New Horizons The 21,000-square-foot Effie Ellis Community Center contains 12 classrooms serving approximately 200 children in Chicago’s Kenwood and surrounding communities. Read more... |
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Centro Comunitario Juan Diego, Chicago Part community organizing and part social service, Centro Comunitario works “to promote leadership in the community in order to promote positive social change, while serving those in need.” In 2000, Centro Comunitario got a 15-year, $99,000 IFF loan to acquire and renovate its first facility (supplemented a few years later by $8,500 to repair the roof). Since the loan, the organization has grown, as reflected by increases in assets, liabilities, and revenues. Read more... |
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Charles H. Shaw Technology and Learning Center, home of Henry Ford Academy Power House High IFF was approached to evaluate adaptive reuse options for the decommissioned, 100-year-old Sears, Roebuck & Company Power house in North Lawndale and was asked to manage every aspect of the project. Read more... |
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Charter School of the Dunes, Gary, Indiana IFF provided an $817,500 credit enhancement to the Charter School of the Dunes (CSOTD) to help them construct a new 65,000 square foot facility. With the help of IFF’s credit enhancement, CSOTD secured an $8.3 million loan from BMO Harris Bank toward the $13.5 million project within a New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) structure. JPMorgan Chase is the NMTC investor and National New Markets Fund provided the NMTCs. The new facility will be LEED™ Silver certified and consist of administrative offices, a gymnasium/auditorium, a cafeteria, library, art room, environmental lab, sciences labs, special education space, and 27 classrooms. Their new building will allow CSOTD to better serve its current 425 students and allow for growth of up to 700 students. |
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Children’s Home + Aid Society Children’s Home + Aid didn’t hesitate to step forward as the provider when IFF and the City of Chicago identified West Englewood as a high-need community for child care and early education. Read more... |
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Children’s Home + Aid Marletta Darnall Schaumburg Child + Family Center CH+A came to IFF for assistance developing its Marletta Darnall Schaumburg Child + Family Center. CH+A hired IFF as owner’s representative to see their project through to completion and relied on IFF for a $1M bridge loan when state funds were suspended. IFF skillfully worked through major hurdles that ultimately saved CH+A money. Read more... |
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Community Advocates, Milwaukee IFF supported Community Advocates’ growth goals with a $1 million loan when financing for a new, larger space they were purchasing came to a halt due to their bank’s loan-to-value limits. IFF’s loan was critical to filling in the gap and completing the transaction. A partnership between CA, Town Bank, and IFF led to the acquisition and build-out of a new CA headquarters that will open in 2011. "Everyone knows that this is a very difficult lending environment especially for nonprofits taking on large capital projects. This project could not have gone forward without IFF's unique understanding of how nonprofits are financed and how we pursue our mission.” —Joe Volk, Executive Director, Community Advocates |
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CommunityHealth, Chicago Using IFF financing and a bank loan augmented by funds raised through a capital campaign, CommunityHealth was able to buy and transform a building in the West Town neighborhood into a state-of-the-art health center. The facility has become the medical home for more than 8,000 low-income uninsured patients a year, who receive primary care and specialty services from over 350 volunteer physicians. Read more... |
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Concordia Place Concordia Lutheran Church wanted to provide intergenerational programs and community space for families in Chicago’s northwest side Avondale neighborhood. IFF provided project management services to renovate a former church and parochial school building and construct an annex. Read more... |
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Counseling Center of Lakeview, Chicago IFF provided the Counseling Center of Lakeview a 15-year, $500,000 loan. Combined with a bank loan and agency equity, IFF’s loan made possible the purchase of a building and two adjacent properties where the Center offers counseling and alcoholism programs serving homeless youth, older residents, people with disabilities, and others. Read more... |
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Countryside Senior Apartments Working with leaders from the Township of Lyons, the Community Memorial Foundation decided to create an affordable option to allow seniors to stay in their communities, and brought in IFF to help. IFF planned, helped finance, and developed Countryside Senior Apartments, a 70-unit affordable rental housing development for independent seniors. Read more... |
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ECHO Community Health Center, Evansville, Indiana With the help of a 15-year, $290,000 IFF loan along with grant funding, ECHO Community Health Center acquired a space it had been leasing and renovated it to provide prenatal and pediatric services. The clinic’s new space allows staff to separate sick and well children and to incorporate developmental and preventive care programs. Read more... |
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Erie Family Health Center Erie Family Health has engaged IFF to assist with the full spectrum of their real estate needs—from feasibility assessments, to site searches, to owner’s representative services. Read more... |
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Fox Cities Community Health Center, Menasha, Wisconsin In an effort to meet the dental care needs for a growing number of low income Fox Cities residents, the clinic set out to add a new dental clinic. IFF loaned FCCHC $748,000 to build out a state of the art facility and purchase dental equipment for eleven operatories. FCCHC anticipates that the clinic will increase patient visits by 10,000 visits in the first year and create 20 new jobs for the community. “We were very fortunate to be introduced to the IFF team. IFF worked with us to understand our financial needs, our project and the positive impact it would have on the health of our community. IFF has worked with us throughout our project, helping to turn our dream of dental access, into a reality.” —Kristene Stacker, Executive Director, Fox Cities Community Health Center |
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Galapagos Charter School, Chicago Galapagos Charter School, located on the west side of Chicago, is currently implementing energy efficient upgrades recommended during its participation in IFF's Energy Performance Program (E2P). Through E2P, IFF studied Galapagos's energy usage and determined the most cost effective ways to cut energy costs. Galapagos's greatest opportunity for savings came from its lighting system. By performing lighting fixture retrofits and installing occupancy sensors and timers, Galapagos expects to save over $7,000 per year on electricity costs. IFF also identified $20,000 in incentives available to the school to help cover the lighting upgrade. In addition to performing the audit, identifying the greatest opportunities for savings, finding incentives to help cover project costs, and providing project management services for the lighting retrofit, IFF made two loans to Galapagos totaling $1 million. The loans will be used to finance the lighting retrofit along with additional facility improvements, including installing an energy efficient curtain wall and making accessibility improvements throughout the facility. |
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Gateway180 :: Homelessness Reversed, St. Louis Gateway180 :: Homelessness Reversed, formerly known as Gateway Homeless Services, is an emergency shelter in the City of St. Louis that provides 24-hour services to women and children experiencing homelessness. Gateway180 recently borrowed funds from IFF to renovate client bathrooms on four floors with multiple showers, changing rooms, sinks, and toilets. For the past several years, the agency has been making a concerted effort to improve their facility to create an environment of dignity and respect for their clients. With 110 beds on site, bathrooms see heavy traffic. Renovating restrooms became a natural next step. Providing a clean, private, comfortable restroom provides a life necessity to clients who would otherwise go without. Gateway180 continues to provide a nurturing environment to women and children experiencing homelessness, working to place individuals into secure housing within 30 days of coming to the shelter. Last year, they placed 356 people into housing. |
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Greenway of Burlington, Burlington, Iowa Greenway of Burlington is a 134-unit development serving low-income families in Burlington, Iowa. The buildings were originally constructed in the 1940's to house ammunition factory workers. IFF provided a $400,000 predevelopment loan to Greenway as they undertake a major rehabilitation project. IFF's affordable housing lending provides nonprofit developers and their for-profit partners with affordable, flexible financing up to $500,000 for predevelopment costs, as well as up to $1.5 million for construction and/or permanent loans. |
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Greater Des Moines Habitat for Humanity, Des Moines Greater Des Moines Habitat for Humanity constructs homes in partnership with families earning 30-50 percent of Median Family Income, and sells new and gently-used home improvement materials to the public at discount prices via its Habitat ReStore retail outlet. IFF provided a $1.5 million loan that helped Greater Des Moines Habitat for Humanity acquire and renovate their new facility, originally built for a building materials business. The new facility houses retail, construction, and office space. Over the next five years, the acquisition, retrofit and renovation are intended to support an 80 percent increase in Habitat operations, 200 percent growth in neighborhood revitalization efforts, and 30 percent growth in homeownership units developed. |
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Hardin County General Hospital, Rosiclare Hardin County General Hospital is a 25-bed Critical Access Hospital (CAH) providing inpatient, outpatient and emergency care services to residents of Hardin, Saline, Pope and parts of Gallatin counties in southern Illinois. Of the organization’s 27,000 patients, 52 percent are low-income, and 15 percent are seniors. IFF provided Hardin with an affordable, flexible equipment loan for $491,000 to purchase hardware, software, support services and the installation of electronic health records (EHRs). Installing EHRs will allow Hardin to maximize incentive payments from Medicare and better manage patient care. |
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Heartland International Health Center and Heartland Health Outreach The centers sought IFF’s assistance to develop a Strategic Facilities Plan to help identify the best solution for additional space needs. IFF analyzed the centers’ program finances, assessed their growth goals, evaluated potential sites for relocation or expansion, and prepared a demographic analysis. Recommendations and next steps included a phased plan for facilities development with estimated costs and financing scenario for each phase. Read more... |
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Hogan Preparatory Academy, Kansas City, Missouri With the help of a $250,000 equipment loan from IFF, Hogan Preparatory Academy (Hogan Prep), who has operated a high school since 1999, opened its first middle school in August 2011. IFF congratulates Hogan Prep for the local and national attention the school recently received. Due to its outstanding performance last year, the school received a 2010 College Board Inspiration Award for their college-preparation programs and partnerships among teachers, parents, and community organizations. Hogan Prep was one of only three schools across the country to receive the annual award. Hogan Prep also won the Missouri Charter Public School Association (MCPSA) Charter School of Excellence Award for the past two years. Hogan Prep serves a 98 percent minority and 80 percent low-income student population. Last year, 100 percent of Hogan Prep's graduates were accepted into college. |
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Howard Area Community Center Preserving and rehabilitating an older building that had previously been used for offices and warehouse space, IFF managed the construction of the Sheila Berner Community Center, a beautiful new facility that meets the highest standards of child care. Read more... |
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Inspiration Corporation - Inspiration Kitchens Garfield Park Inspiration Corporation chose IFF to plan and manage the construction of its fourth site, a 60-seat restaurant in Chicago's East Garfield Park neighborhood that will allow Inspiration Corporation to expand the Inspiration Kitchens social enterprise. Read more... |
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Lakeview Pantry IFF identified space in the heart of the pantry's gentrified Chicago community, assessed financial feasibility for the site, hired the architect and contractor and managed construction. The new space reflects Lakeview Pantry’s mission to treat all program participants with dignity and respect. Read more... |
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LEARN Hunter Perkins Campus, Chicago In September 2011, LEARN Charter School Network celebrated the grand opening of their Hunter Perkins Campus—the Network’s fifth campus, located in Chicago's Auburn Gresham neighborhood. To help finance the project, IFF provided the Network with a $1 million energy efficiency loan. The loan allowed LEARN to make significant renovations to a vacant parochial school building that included several cost-saving “green” features. Watch a video or read more... |
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Life Skills, St. Louis In 2012, TouchPoint merged with Life Skills and subsequently paid off their loan. Life Skills is committed to helping individuals with developmental disabilities—including autism—learn, live, and work in their community. |
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Madison County Community Health Center, Anderson, Indiana IFF provided Madison County Community Health Center in Anderson, Indiana with a $600,000 loan to purchase medical equipment for its new medical and dental wing. The new addition will allow for 19 more medical exam rooms, nine new dental operatories, and add optical, behavioral health, and preventive care education services. The agency serves over 6,600 clients annually, 56 percent of whom come from low-income households. The expansion will not only provide an up-to-date, adequately sized facility, but during this time of challenging recruitment efforts, it will present a desirable location for doctors to practice. |
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Marwen IFF managed design and construction of Marwen’s 11,500-square-foot permanent home in Chicago’s burgeoning and expensive gallery district. The end result was a space that Marwen and its students could be proud of, rivaling the quality and beauty of nearby loft and gallery spaces. Read more... |
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The Maywood Apartments, Maywood IFF’s Real Estate Services was contracted by the West Cook County Housing Collaborative to coordinate the Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) on its behalf. The Collaborative, an effort between Bellwood, Berwyn, Forest Park, Maywood, and Oak Park municipalities, was formed to increase access to quality, affordable housing in West Suburban Cook County. Taking an innovative approach to acquiring NSP funds, IFF filed a single application to support the housing needs of the sub-region rather than applying for each individual municipality. The Collaborative was awarded approximately $3 million through Cook County. A portion of the funds is being used to renovate a 26-unit apartment building in Maywood. IFF Real Estate Services is managing the development of the Maywood Apartments, including selecting and managing the project team. |
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Metropolitan Family Services IFF managed construction of the new Children’s Center. The center's completion was the final piece of a major community revitalization project on Chicago's southwest side that includes new commercial, residential, and senior facilities. Read more... |
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The Night Ministry Appropriately locating interim and transitional housing within a community is challenging. IFF staff identified an ideally-located property, negotiated a purchase agreement, assisted TNM through a complicated acquisition process, and managed the building's renovations. Read more... |
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Noble Network of Charter Schools IFF has assisted Noble in all aspects of its facility and financing needs, including front end planning, finding suitable sites for its campuses, negotiating the lease or purchase of sites, overseeing design, and providing oversight during construction. Read more... |
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One Hope United - Aurora Early Learning Center Aurora was identified as an area of high need for early child care and education in IFF's statewide assessment of Illinois, Moving Towards A System. To address this need IFF, One Hope United, and the City of Aurora engaged the community to plan and develop the Auora Early Learning Center. Read more... |
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One Hope United - Elgin Child and Family Resource Center IFF, with the support of Grand Victoria Foundation and the City of Elgin, engaged all sectors of the community over a four-year period to plan and develop a new, two story, 21,400-square-foot child and family resource center. Read more... |
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Paraquad, St. Louis Relocation is stressful, especially for an organization dedicated to people with disabilities for whom location and accessibility are paramount. A 20-year, $1 million IFF loan, subordinate to a mortgage offered by Pulaski Bank, enabled Paraquad to secure a permanent, centrally located home for its operations. Read more... |
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PUKA Preschool, Carbondale, Illinois In 2002, after three decades of providing child care to residents of Southern Illinois, the Carbondale center decided to acquire its own building. The leaders found the ideal space in a licensed for-profit day care center that had just closed, and secured a 15-year, $500,000 IFF loan to buy the building. Read more... |
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Restored Hope Remedial Services, Independence, Missouri In 2009, IFF made a 15-year $190.000 loan to Restored Hope Remedial Services (RHRS) which enabled them to acquire the 5,500 square foot building they were occupying and make improvements. RHRS offers a full range of diagnostic and neuroscience-based therapies for children, adults and seniors with learning disabilities. The upper floor of the building is used for a private school which complements the primary diagnostic and therapeutic services program offered on the first floor—the school accepted its first students in September 2010. |
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The Resurrection Project IFF, in partnership with The Resurrection Project, Holy Cross IHM Parish and Chicago Commons Association, initiated an effort to build a new family resource center in Chicago's Back-of-the-Yards/New City community, an area previously served by only one small child care center. Read more... |
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The School District of New Berlin, New Berlin, Wisconsin The School District of New Berlin – a school district in southeast Wisconsin – hired IFF’s Real Estate Services in Wisconsin to complete a strategic facilities plan. They wanted an objective third party to take a close look at all of their buildings to help them plan for the effective and efficient use of their facility and financial resources. IFF took a data driven approach to the study, visiting each of the district’s seven school facilities as well as two facilities not currently in use as schools. IFF performed a detailed assessment of each facility’s physical condition, analyzed enrollment and market trends, and estimated all the costs associated with necessary improvements to the facility. In its final report, IFF provided comprehensive recommendations for improving each facility, a consolidation strategy, and priorities for facility renovation across the district. |
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Seeds of Health, Veritas High School, Milwaukee IFF has loaned $1.25 million to expand Veritas High School, part of the Seeds of Health charter school network, and provided real estate consulting services to help the agency locate, evaluate, and secure new homes for the middle and virtual schools. The 6,600 square-foot Veritas addition will allow 70 more students to join the top-ranked school. The new middle school space will accommodate 160 more students and the virtual campus will provide 300 students with an alternative to the traditional classroom setting. IFF’s financing for Veritas has been combined with funds from PAVE, a Milwaukee advocate for education. The Walton Family Foundation contributed funds to both the Veritas project and IFF’s real estate consulting services. |
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St. Catherine Residence, Milwaukee IFF provided a 17-year, $900,000 first mortgage, part of a financing that included tax credits and grant funding that enabled St. Catherine to build McAuley Apartments, creating 46 small units at affordable rents adjacent to the agency’s original building. Renting at McAuley enables women to move toward independence while staying connected to the warm, supportive community St. Catherine offers its residents. Read more... |
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St. Leonard’s Ministries The 16,200-square-foot Michael Barlow Center was completed two months early and under budget. The Center is realizing its full potential with tutoring, an alternative high school, a computer lab, job skills training, and job placement and retention services. Read more... |
